


building

by Lady_of_the_Spirit



Category: The Wicked + The Divine
Genre: Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Male-Female Friendship, Tara is called Aruna, this makes no sense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:48:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29673051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_of_the_Spirit/pseuds/Lady_of_the_Spirit
Summary: "What do you think?"Jon's expression is as carefully crafted as his work, but Aruna can still find the weak spots.
Relationships: Jon Blake & Tara (The Wicked + The Divine)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	building

**Author's Note:**

> this is the result of me being awake at 2 in the morning trying to work on a paper and unexpectedly having a rush of feelings about Jon and Aruna, don't expect it to make sense.
> 
> I'm not at all doing this justice but I WILL come back to this concept and make it better because I've got some fucking feelings about it.

"What do you think?"

Jon's expression is as carefully crafted as his work, but Aruna can still find the weak spots. He's trying to look calm, confident, but in his question, the way he watches her every move as she carefully flexes her new fingers and shifts her weight onto each leg, she sees past his mask. It's easy enough. She wore her own in the past, after all, and for the same reasons.

They both want to hide from the rest of the world. They both want to have that boundary between themselves and the judgement of anyone else. They want to pretend that it doesn't matter what other people think. 

But Aruna wore her mask, and that's why she knows that it's easy to claim those things, easy to pretend. That's why she can see through him.

He wants her approval for more than just her own comfort. He needs to have done his best. It needs to be perfect. 

It makes her angry. 

Not at Jon. Never at Jon. Jon has never done anything to deserve her anger. He is one of the few, that way. 

She's angry at Woden. That he failed so spectacularly as a father to make this wonderful boy, the first in years who has treated her kindly without any strings attached, doubt himself. That he ever made Jon feel like he has to _give_ to be loved. That he made Jon feel like he has to be perfect or he is nothing. That he took his only son and made him an object to be used out of a sense of entitlement.

That he did to Jon what was done to her. 

Aruna never tells Jon her feelings about his dad. He has a complicated enough relationship with Woden as it is. 

"It's excellent." She takes a few steps. It does not feel like her body, but that is the point.

She sees his mask fall as he smiles and his shoulders slump with relief. 

"Thank you, Jon."

She sees the flash of surprise that crosses his face. That angers her too, that he is unused to being thanked. 

"No problem. I have plans for future designs, but I want your input. You were in design, right? I think you could come up with some really cool looks." Jon's already walking towards the blueprints he has spread out across his table. 

"You want my input?" She can't help the surprise she's sure is on her own face. 

Jon looks up at her. "Yeah. I mean, it's my plans, but it's your body." 

Aruna stares at him for a moment before she smiles. 

Just as before she felt anger, now she feels affection. The sense of being known. Because just as she understands Jon, Jon understands her. 


End file.
